As govt becomes only buyer of rice, local farmer groups producing high quality rice products forced out of business.(Monopol)

There is no doubt about it. The rice pledging policy is overwhelmingly popular with rice farmers. .... The paddy
price offered by the Thai Rice Association is only 10,500 baht a tonne
when the price offered by the government is 15,000 baht. The market
paddy price for Hom Mali jasmine rice is 15,000 a tonne while it is
20,000 baht from the government.

In other words, the government pays the farmers 4,500-5,000 baht a tonne more than market prices...

[the government's policy] has seriously hurt communityrice mills and co-operatives. They are closing down one by one because they cannot afford to buy rice at the same price as the government which is now monopolising the rice industry.

These community mills are also closely linked with farmers who produce high-quality rice such as organic rice.
When the market price for Hom Mali rice was previously 15,000 baht a
tonne, the mills bought it at 17,000-18,000 baht. But with the
government offering the farmers 20,000 baht, the community mills can no
longer compete.

The bank also said recently it has a mere 22 billion baht on hand
until the end of 2013 to pay farmers who pledged rice for the current
main crop, making an extra 51 billion baht necessary to fund the... Og nå kan dere lesere begynne å se tegningen som nå regjeringen har skapt.

The rice programme kicked off last Oct 7.
Seven months later, paddy stocks totalled 12.6 million tonnes including 8.5 million of white rice.

Of the total, 6.8 million tonnes was from the first crop and 5.8
million from the second crop. This excludes 2.5 million tonnes of white
rice from the previous pledging scheme.

The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives estimates a loss of 17 to 20.4 billion baht, as the purchaseprice of 15,000 baht a tonne for white rice is 2,500 to 3,000 baht above market prices.

Huge stocks of rice were once kept in government warehouses. Will this
hotbed of corruption and cause of reduced rice quality return?
Some are pushing for the return of the old rice "pledging" or "mortgage" scheme. Why is this dangerous?

the pledging scheme, which generally set prices higher than market
rates, aiming primarily for political gain, would be harmful in the long
run, as it addicts farmers and weakens their capability to improve rice
quality.

rice that went to the government was mostly not grain owned by poor farmers but surplus output.

"According to studies, the quality of rice will be mainly determined by
the proportion of rice trading by the government.

Rice quality has
significantly dropped over the last three or four years as the
government turns out to be a giant buyer in the market,"...

Commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom ( regjering til Yingluck)"The panel has completed its investigation with report that it has
substantial evidence and ground to propose the full NACC board to
proceed with the prosecution of these wrongdoers.

Among the wrongdoers with clear evidence of corruption is the former commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapiromใ"

Earlier the bank union Prasit Pahome threatened to take the case to the
National Anti Corruption Committee, the Election Commission, and the
Constitutional Court if the bank’s board insisting on using the bank’s
180 billion baht liquidity to pay the rice as requested by the
government.

About 50 farmers in Buri Ram rally at the provincial hall on Thursday to
demand quick payment for their pledged rice. The National
Anti-Corruption Commission has found the scheme plagued with corruption.

Ms Yingluck failed or had no intention to stop the alleged
corruption and she could face criminal charges, said NACC member and
spokesman Visa Mahakhun, who chaired the inquiry panel into the issu

"BANGKOK, 3 December 2013 – Prime Minister and Defense Minister Yingluck
Shinawatra has appointed Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul as
the new head of the Center for the Administration of Peace and Order
(CAPO)."

2006 April-May - Snap election called by the PM amid
mass rallies against him is boycotted by the opposition and is
subsequently annulled, leaving a political vacuum. The PM takes a
seven-week break from politics.

The Commerce Ministry is urging the Bank for Agriculture and
Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) to pay another 100 billion baht to
farmers owed money under the rice-pledging scheme since the initiative
was...

Se her hva demokratene mener:

Anti-government protesters under the PDRC on Monday morning
marched to the GSB headquarters in Saphan Kwai area to pressure the bank
not to allow its fundsto be used in the rice-pledging scheme

The private sector’s anti-corruption organisation on Monday called upon
caretaker Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to show her responsibility
for the alleged corruption in connection with the non-existent
government-to-government rice deals between Thailand and China.

In a statement issued today, the organisation said that Ms Yingluck, in
her capacity as the chairwoman of the National Rice Policy Committee and
the supervisor of the rice pledging scheme, could not deny the
responsibility for her neglect of duty allowing corruption to take
place.

The NACC also faulted Ms Yingluck for neglect of duty in connection with this rice scandal.

The organisation also asked the government to revise the rice pledging
scheme, the government’s flagship populist policy and to adopt measures
to prevent corruption in the scheme from being repeated.

The head of the Chiang Rai commerce office, Chalermphol
Phongchababnapha, told farmers he had learnt that the caretaker
government was trying to obtain a loan of Bt130 billion before the
Bt2.93 billion owed to local farmers could be paid

Thai PBS would also report the status of delayed payments to farmers by the regime, now approaching 6 months

Another farmer in Klong Larn district of Kamphaengpet province hanged herself yesterday after suffering extreme distress for having no money to pay overdue loan. She was refused payment for her rice pledged under the government’s rice-pledging scheme for months

Without the loans, payments to farmers under the rice-pledging scheme will continue to be delayed, threatening to hurt the Pheu Thai Party's political support. Upset by the delay, many farmers are threatening to take steps to topple the government.

Capon mener dette er en av bombemennene. After throwing the explosive device, the suspect fled into
Ratchawithi Soi 14 where he was chased by PDRC security guards and
protesters. While fleeing, the man lobbed another grenade and fired
shots from...